Winter Themed Teaching Activities for Preschoolers

Mitten Activities

• Print the children's names on paper mittens and permit them to decorate the mittens. Each child identifies her mitten and places it on a clothesline when she arrives at school.

  Cut out mitten shapes from colored construction paper and laminate. Read "The Mitten Tree." Ask the children to make a mitten tree with the colored mitten shapes

  Cut out a mitten shape from a large sheet of poster board or butcher paper. Provide a variety of colored construction paper scraps and white craft glue to the children. Instruct the children to design a mitten mosaic by gluing the paper squares on the mitten shape.

Igloo Activties

• Make an igloo file folder game that reinforces letter recognition. Print and cut out the igloos. Glue the letter blocks to a piece of tag board and cut out. Use rubber cement or double-sided adhesive tape to attach the two igloos onto the inside of a file folder. Glue the directions and game title to the front of the folder. Laminate the letter blocks and the file folder. Attach a small piece of nylon hook and loop fastener to each letter on the igloo and attach the corresponding side of the fastener to the letter blocks. Store the letter blocks in a plastic zipper sandwich bag. For an alternative, supplement the presentation of the short " i" sound with an igloo coloring page.

Ice Activities

• Fill plastic margarine containers with water. Add blue food coloring to the water and mix well. Allow the containers to freeze and add small arctic animals. Place the frozen containers and animals in a shallow rectangular pan to avoid drips.

  Fill a variety of containers with water and allow to freeze. Take the children outside and place winter salt on some frozen containers. Place food coloring on top of the containers. Ask the children to guess which container will melt first. The containers topped with winter salt produce unique patterns as melting occurs.

Penguin Activities

• A counting book on the DLTK website features playful penguins to count on each page. Print and cut out the three templates into four quarters. Assemble the quarters in correct order and then staple securely on the left side.

  Sing "I'm a Little Penguin" to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot":

  I'm a little penguin

  Black and white.

  Stout and fluffy

  What a sight!

  I can't fly

  But I love to swim.

  So I'll waddle to the water

  And dive right in!